The Jigsaw Method involves breaking groups up into smaller groups.Â Each smaller group then can be assigned a part of section of a topic or project.Â When the smaller groups are finished, they come back together to share what they learned.Â The Jigsaw Method is a great way to break a seemingly undoable project into manageable portions.

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Like all youth, our Scouts occasionally form cliques.Â We use The Jigsaw Method as an educational strategy to temporarily break them up.Â For example, if our Scouts are traveling somewhere and are asked to get into the cars to go, inevitably, friends will stick together and we will wind up with a friendship group in each car.Â After our Scouts have gotten into the cars, we ask them to get out again!Â The Scouts then are regrouped and wind up in groups that they did not pre-arrange.Â This encourages our Scouts to get to know each other better, expand their friendship groups, and is particularly helpful for shy Scouts.

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Our Crews are also a way we use The Jigsaw Method.Â Crews are groups of 7-8 Scouts who participate, camp, and take part in activities together.Â Crews serve as friends, teammates, and even family as a smaller subsection of a team, which may have up to 48 Scouts.Â During Weekend Activities, Scouts are often broken up into their Crews so they can cooperate together and compete against other Crews.

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The Jigsaw Method is an ideal way to break our Scouts up into a smaller groups when necessary and then put them back together, each group having learned and contributing to a different part of the team.